This weekend's New York Times Sunday magazine looked in depth at the lives that take place between here and New York City—the ones that train riders catch only glimpses of as they make their way from one wireless hotspot to another. The short ride between the two cities takes someone through eight of the ten richest counties in the country, but they are mostly centered around the either of the two cities. In between NYC and DC some of the poorest urban communities that exist in America are on display to the people inside the train. It isn't the decline of manufacturing per se, says the author, but rather the number of people needed to produce the same amount of goods. This issue went to press before Hurricane Sandy hit many of the places mentioned in the article but as the magazine's editor writes in the accompanying article, "No hurricane...did this damage. This is the work of our economy."
· Outside the Amtrak Window, a Picture of the US Economy [NYT]
· This Sunday: Man-Made Devastation vs. Natural [NYT]